


Reactions

by Mswriter07



Series: Mark/Jesse series [2]
Category: American (US) Actor RPF, Now You See Me (Movies) RPF
Genre: Divorce, M/M, POV Multiple, Post I Love You, the kids reactions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-07 10:55:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15217631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mswriter07/pseuds/Mswriter07
Summary: The kids tell their story.





	Reactions

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer -- I wrote this as I thought the story line would be interesting to see from everyone's angle. I mean NO HARM to any of the people involved! I'm sure Mark, Sunrise, and Jesse are wonderful people in real life. I DO NOT in any way wish for Mark's marriage to fall apart at all. I wish all of them happiness in their daily lives out of the spotlight. Also, no monies made etc. JUST FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES!**

Lydia

 

_ How did things get this far? _

 

Mom and Dad don’t think we knew they were having trouble even before Dad started his affair with Jesse.  Mom would always gripe to their friends about being home alone with us kids without any help from Dad. However, when Dad would get a decent paycheck from a movie, Mom would go right out with their friends and spend it.  I know I’m only 11 now but even I knew that what she did was meant to hurt Dad somehow.

 

When Dad started bringing Jesse around after the release of their movie, Jesse was a nervous wreck, always whispering to Dad about different things and trying to size us kids up to make sure that he probably wouldn’t break us.  Dad explained that Jesse had anxiety and he was trying to figure out how to make himself comfortable around us without getting in the way. At least that’s how I understood it. I know my sister and brother got it better than me.  The next time, Jesse was over I brought him my math and spelling pages and asked for his help. He flapped his hands and looked at Dad and Dad just nodded at him over his coffee cup. 

 

After that, I had Jesse help me with my homework whenever he came over.  Soon Beth and Brian would ask him homework questions and we found out that he was really smart and could help us better than Mom and Dad.  I would bring him my books and he would read to me and then it started being a group thing where my sister and brother and Dad would sit around us and Jesse started to bring along his own books.  

 

The big thing though was that Jesse seemed to go before Mom got home from work.  Dad would show him through the garage or take him to the front door and they would brush hands and frown even though they were happy.  All of us kids knew that they were more than friends but we never said anything or even asked Mom if she knew. We didn’t want her more mad at Dad than just for being away for his movies.  We figured that it was Dad’s responsibility to tell her about whatever the hell was going on.

 

Now Mom isn’t perfect either, she’s sneakier than Dad though.  When he would be gone for a few weeks at a time she would bring her friends over and tell us not to tell Dad that David or Chris were here at the house.  She would pack our overnight bags and take us to grandma’s house to stay for a couple of days so that she could have alone time. I think that’s why Bethany became attached to Jesse, he and Dad didn’t try to send us off so they could be alone or even act like they were together like Mom and Dad were supposed to be.  Brian started writing more and showed Jesse some of his work that had Jesse grinning and telling Brian that he would be an excellent writer. 

 

Back to Mom though, she always thought she was protecting us from the things she did behind Dad’s back.  We hoped she wasn’t hurting Dad but I think that’s what caused Dad to find Jesse. He tried to love Mom and always be there for her when he was home but she would want to be alone or leave the house for long periods of time outside of her going to work.  I don’t know if Mom knew about Jesse before Dad had him stay for dinner but that night we knew that if we had to choose, we were going to choose Dad and Jesse. 

 

Now it’s six months after they filed for divorce and we’re moving to Queens where Jesse is from.  Dad bought Mom a small but pretty house that has enough rooms for us kids when we go to her house to visit but not as big as the house Dad and Jesse found that they said was just right for them and us.  I’m excited to be starting at my new school in the fall and so are Bethany and Brian. Dad says the school will help us with our artistic and theater pursuits so I can work on my drawing and painting.

 

Sitting at the table as I do my homework, I see Dad and Jesse out on the back deck area and Dad has Jesse in his arms and they’re smiling.  I’m glad that Dad and Jesse are finally able to be happy. They deserve it.

  
  
  
  


Bethany

 

_ How did Dad end up finding the love of his life in the balled up nervous man that we know as Jesse? _

 

Hi.  I’m Bethany, Mom and Dad’s middle child.  Six months ago Mom found out Dad was having an affair with his co-star Jesse.  I don’t know how she missed it for two years but Dad and Jesse never did anything at the house.  We, as the kids, didn’t think that we needed to tell Mom about Dad and Jesse. Mom hadn’t told Dad about the extra people she had over or that she complained to their friends while Dad was out of town working.  Dad seemed to know anyways and while he brought Jesse around us, he didn’t throw it in Mom’s face. That could’ve been Jesse’s doing though as he left before she got home from work.

 

As much as I wanted Dad and Mom together, I knew they weren’t happy with each other.  Dad was happy with Jesse which surprised me because the first few weeks Dad brought him around, he seemed to shake like a leaf and stutter when he tried to talk to us.  Dad explained about his intense anxiety and that we try not to overwhelm Jesse with things until he seemed more comfortable around us. Jesse looked like he wanted to hide in the garage but Dad kept his arm around his shoulders to steady him.  

 

After that Lydia started asking him for homework help if he was over in the afternoon and then I started asking by accident at first but Jesse really knew what he was doing and helped us where he could without him doing our work for us.  My grades personally improved after that and I didn’t dread my homework as much. I watched Jesse and found once he got used to us that he was easy to talk to so if I had an issue I’d talk to Jesse before I’d bring it up to Dad or Mom, mostly Dad.  

 

All these things took time as we were adjusting to a new person in our lives but Jesse made it easy for us to like him and we knew he wasn’t trying to try and become a parent to us in that situation.  I knew though that when we moved to Queens that Dad and Jesse would be permanent. Without the worry of Mom’s presence they were freer to dote on each other - Jesse would bring Dad tea or scotch at night and Dad would always make sure that Jesse ate and that if they were in public to have strategies in place if he had a panic attack et cetera.  But most of all, I was glad to see how well my brother and sister adapted to this new arrangement with Dad and Jesse.

  
  
  
  


Brian

 

_ How did Lydia, Bethany, and myself come to like and accept Jesse as our Dad’s lover and partner? _

 

I’m the oldest at 16, so with all this dysfunction and moving across the country, I should be pissed at Dad and Jesse for uprooting our lives in Los Angeles but I’m not.  Dad was at least vaguely forthright when it came to who Jesse was and what he meant to Dad. Mom always tried to play the shadow game with her conquests. Dad had tried really hard to fix whatever was broken between them when he was home.  He’d cook and cuddle with her on the couch and they’d share wine. Mom always seemed detached so finally she stopped responding to him. When he was home, she’d leave for hours in the evening and Dad would sit on his computer doing work stuff and looking miserable with scotch in a bottle next to him ready to be poured into his near empty glass.  

 

When I was 14, Dad brought Jesse around for the first time.  Mom was always out so Jesse would stay in the afternoons while we did homework and Dad cooked dinner.  Jesse never stayed for the food though - maybe that was his own rule for whatever they were doing so he wasn’t in the house when Mom would get home.  He would always decline taking anything home with him and Dad would frown but not push him. As they seemed to grow closer, Jesse started helping us all with our homework and I found that we were interested in the same subjects so I started to show him some of my writings.  The smile he showed was one of the most real smiles I’d seen in a long time. 

 

That put me at ease around him.  He didn’t try and step on our parents’ rules for us or act like a parent with us and I learned to respect him that much more.  Jesse also never badmouthed our Mom, even though he probably just like Dad, knew that she wasn’t telling the complete truth. He’s one of the nicest people I’ve met and he really just wants to make sure Dad and us are happy.  Dad’s the same, except he wants Jesse happy which doesn’t seem often enough for him. They do their best until Dad makes Jesse stay for dinner and Mom blows her lid. Jesse had wanted to go but Dad made Jesse’s favorite lasagna and Jesse relented.

 

Mom was  _ not _ happy when she saw Jesse at the table next to Dad.  She tried to put on a smile and welcome Jesse but even Jesse knew it was fake.  He slumped into his chair and Mom practically dragged Dad to their room so they could  _ talk _ .  Lydia I noticed wanted to go to the door but I held her sleeve so she didn’t leave the table and watched as Bethany hugged Jesse and told him that we loved him.  He relaxed marginally with that thought and we continued to pick at our food until Mom and Dad came back to the table.

 

Things were about to get messy figuratively for us as Dad kept one hand under the table, probably on Jesse’s knee to keep him from bolting out of the house, and Mom’s cold stare at Dad.  Lydia, Bethany, and myself had already chosen our side and we’d stand with Dad and Jesse. The two deserved it after so much time of keeping themselves together. We loved that Dad was happy and if him being with his male co-star kept him smiling and laughing then we could accept Jesse into our family.


End file.
